It is great that someone else feels exactly like you do. I am sure there are more of us out there but they remain silent.
They are more worried that someone might actually see their hearing aids. Hearing aid companies are well aware of this as they actually advertise that their aids are virtually invisible. What they don’t say is if you have severe or profound hearing loss they don’t work as well as those behind the ear. I don’t know about you but I am more concerned with how they work.
I have the newest Signia hearing aids and they are the best I have had yet. I can’t wait for the newest innovation to come out. With AI the advances are accelerating. I went to an audiologist at a large local hospital and was tested for over an hour. She told me CI’s would not be an improvement over my existing hearing aids. I really don’t want to go the CI route if I don’t have to. That day might come but at 74 I am still hoping they will finally be able to regenerate our hair cells. They have started human trials overseas. I am not expecting much to happen in this country for the next three and a half years.
The next time I walk in the restaurant and the background noise is way too loud I am going to ask to talk to the manager. I will politely explain that I am hard of hearing and the background music makes it hard for me and others to carry on a conversation. I will also say for those that are not hard of hearing it forces them to talk louder making the problem worse.
I hope people reading this post will do the same. One out of six individuals suffers from hearing loss. Only if we all speak up is it going to change. If the manager ignores you just tell him that is the last time you will be eating at his restaurant.
The ADA is supposed to be working for us but not if we don’t let them know there is a problem.
Let us get our voices back and maybe we can make a difference. What do we have to lose.
Speak up and be heard.